Husband and wife owners of a Houston home health firm have been charged in an $8.7 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Caroline and Rommell Zamora are accused of paying kickbacks to Medicare patients who illegally signed up for home health services at Parkway Healthcare Services, according to a complaint filed by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas. The complaint alleges the couple also paid kickbacks to doctors who certified and referred patients to home healthcare when they did not qualify for services. The scheme took place for more than four years, from February 2014 to November 2018.
The complaint claims the Zamoras fraudulently billed Medicare for $8.7 billion in home health services through Parkway and received $6.7 billion in Medicare payments. If convicted, they both face up to 10 years in prison on each count of healthcare fraud and another five years for conspiracy. The couple also faces a maximum fine of $250,000.
The Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
